Trible Won't Run For Office In 2005

July 26, 2003|By TERRY SCANLON Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS — Christopher Newport University President Paul Trible announced Friday that he won't run for statewide office in 2005, saying it's more important to stay and continue the transformation of the school.

The former congressman and U.S. senator explored the possibility of running for lieutenant governor over the past three months, talking with more than 100 business, community and political leaders.

Although he thought he could have won the office that is often a steppingstone to the governor's mansion, he said that after much internal debate he decided his work at CNU was more important.

He toyed with the idea of trying to run and serve as lieutenant governor while remaining at CNU. But he determined that's not possible because both jobs demand too much time.

"I wish I could run," Trible said during an interview Friday morning in a conference room overlooking the campus. "But CNU is my first responsibility and my first love. It will take another two to three years to complete the dramatic transformation at the university. And I need to complete this important task before I embark on another."

The university is in the midst of a $250 million construction campaign. The construction is a key part of Trible's effort to convert CNU into a traditional university. In addition to creating what he calls a more stately and inspiring campus environment, the number of students who live on campus and the test scores of incoming students have soared under his leadership.

Trible last ran for office in 1989, when he lost a three-way race for the GOP nomination for governor. Since then he's stayed largely out of party politics. He said he enjoyed reconnecting with party activists and leaders in recent weeks.

In recent days, he went back and forth about whether to run.

"One day I would wake up and I was running in my mind," he said. "And the next day I would wake up and I was not going to run."

He largely sidestepped questions about politics, saying he must work with whomever gets elected, Republican or Democrat. But he said there's "widespread concern about the future of Virginia and the troubled state of public education."